Americans WILLETT, GELLENTHIEN, ANSCHUTZ will shoot for gold

Compound Men
The most interesting match of the 1/24 elimination round was between the Frenchman Sébastien BRASSEUR, a World Cup finalist in Dubai 2006, and Chinna Raju SRITHER (IND). In the qualifications round SRITHER had placed 28th, while BRASSEUR was only 37th. Sébastien BRASSEUR shot three ends at 28 points, seemingly lacking the precision needed to reach the 10 ring. In these first three ends, his opponent managed only one point (thanks to a total of 29 points in the first end). BRASSEUR shot two last ends at 30 and 29. Sébastien BRASSEUR defeated SRITHER by 2 points, 143 to 141.
  
One of the best archers in the world was defeated at this stage of the competition. Slovenia’s SITAR lost 138 to 142 points against Rigoberto HERNANDEZ (ESA). The best score of this round was almost perfect at 149 points out of 150, by Behzad PAKZAD (IRI). He beat Norway’s JARNSTEDT with a 10-point margin. Switzerland’s Patrizio HOFER, who was a World Cup finalist on home turf in Lausanne 2008, qualified for the 1/16 elimination round by defeating Mexico’s Jaime HAFID 142-140.
 
Advanced straight into the 1/16 round thanks to high qualification scores, the American compound men all opened with wins in their initial round of play. Logan WILDE started strong, posting a 146-141 win versus Miroslav BOJCUN (SVK). Teammate Rodger WILLETT, Jr. (USA) photo started his morning equally strong, taking his 1/16 match against Modesto BETANCES (DOM) with a 147-141 lead.
 
Logan WILDE faced Paul TITSCHER (GER) in the 1/8, who was too strong for WILDE, winning the match by 3 points, 147-144. Meanwhile WILLETT met 7th seed Peter ELZINGA (NED). ELZINGA, regarded as one of the top male compound shooters on the international scene, tied WILLETT's score, but was unable to stop the American, who shot a closer-to-center tiebreak arrow to move to the quarterfinals. There, WILLETT faced TITSCHER, who proved unable to edge out the No. 1 world ranked WILLETT, who won the match, 146-144. Braden GELLENTHIEN also got off to a strong start, with a victory against Rigoberto Hernandez (ESA).
 
The highlight of the 1/8 elimination round was a perfect 150 by Team World Champion Reo WILDE, who defeated Jorge JIMENEZ (ESA). Reo WILDE met Dietmar TRILLUS (CAN), who was strong enough to post a 146, but not quite strong enough to overcome the 148 from WILDE. GELLENTHIEN met Julio Fierro (MEX), whom the American edged out, 148-143. It was in the quarterfinals that GELLENTHIEN met his strongest opponent in Christopher PERKINS of Canada, the young and newly crowned World Champion. GELLENTHIEN managed an upset with a 150-144 win, to advance to the semis, where he shot yet another successful match, this time against Italian superstar Sergio PAGNI, who shot a strong 147 but could not stop GELLENTHIEN, stronger with 149. PAGNI was the only European archer still on the field at that stage of the competition.
 
Moving to the semifinals, WILDE faced his toughest opposition from teammate WILLETT, also determined to make the gold medal final. In a match that could not have been much closer, these two amazing archers both shot 149s, and WILLETT claimed victory only after a 1-point win in the tiebreaker. WILLETT earned his place in the gold medal match versus teammate GELLENTHIEN, while WILDE will shoot for bronze versus PAGNI.
  
   
Compound Women
Sixteen archers competed in the 1/24 elimination round in this category. Winners included: Belgium’s Sarah PRIEELS (a team world champion from Leipzig 2007), who finished more than 10 points ahead of Sonia SCHINA (CAN), 143 to 133, and Lucy HOLDERNESS (GBR), who defeated Australia’s Shery GALE, 141 to 138.
  
The morning session on August 4th started with the 1/16 elimination round. All of the USA compound archers, considered one of the strongest compound teams in the world, were pre-seeded into the 1/16 round. Erika ANSCHUTZ (USA) posted high scores for the win against Aimee Deaves (AUS). Multi-time world record holder Jamie VAN NATTA (USA) opened her day with a 1/16 match against Great Britain's Lucy HOLDERNESS, who qualified in 34th place on Wednesday. With a 141-139 win, VAN NATTA advanced to the 1/8, where her opponent was Iran's Seyedeh HALIMIANAVVAL. The Iranian archer showed the same strong shooting displayed by her team throughout this season, eliminating favorite VAN NATTA by just one point, 145-144.
  
ANSCHUTZ continued her winning ways in the 1/8 round against Patricia TCHEPIKOFF (FRA). American Diane WATSON faced friend and teammate Christie COLIN, the No. 1 ranked archer who advanced past Esther GONZALEZ of Mexico. In the match between these two strong American archers, it was COLIN who took a narrow victory, just one point ahead of WATSON, to advance to the quarterfinals. There, COLIN met the Italian powerhouse Laura LONGO, the 9th ranked archer. It was only a 2-point advantage for LONGO, but it was enough to secure her spot in the semifinals, with COLIN retiring 146-144. In the quarterfinals, ANSCHUTZ met her strongest opponent yet in World Champion Albina LOGINOVA of Russia, who is considered an archer to watch for this World Cup competition. With a 5-point lead, ANSCHUTZ took the victory, 145-140, advancing to the semifinals.
  
In the semifinal stage, ANSCHUTZ faced Italy's Laura LONGO, another heavy hitter in this international event. With just two points to spare, ANSCHUTZ took the match to win against LONGO (141-139), punching her ticket to Saturday night's gold medal final. The second semifinal featured another member of the highly ranked Italian team, Marcela TONIOLI photo, and Parsamehr MAHTAB (IRI). This match was as tight as the first semifinal, with the Italian winning by just 1 point, 141-140! TONIOLI will meet Erika ANSCHUTZ in the gold medal final, while the bronze medal will be decided between Laura LONGO and Parsamehr MAHTAB. Contrary to what happened in the men’s competition, ANSCHUTZ will be the only American shooting for a medal on the women’s side.
  
Stay tuned on www.worldarchery.org!
  
World Archery Communication / Teresa IACONI / USA Archery